


Something (In The Way She Moves)

by HannahPelham



Series: Midsomer Loving [1]
Category: Midsomer Murders - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 22:26:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17754635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahPelham/pseuds/HannahPelham
Summary: When she moved to Causton, Anya Cook didn't expect to meet a Detective Sergeant who would change her life.





	Something (In The Way She Moves)

Anya Cook walked down the small high street of Causton, lost in her own thoughts, until a police siren went rushing by. The car stopped at the end of the street and two police officers jumped out. She popped into the small supermarket and bought two bottles of water, wondering if they were chasing a suspect. Her suspicions were correct, and both came panting from the building, the other of the two with someone in handcuffs. The younger man leant against the car, and Anya made her way over. 

“Would you like some water?” She asked, holding the bottle out. He looked at her, and smiled widely. 

“Thank you, Miss?” He said, taking the bottle from her. 

“Cook. Anya Cook. I’m new to the village, I’m opening a coffee and book shop further down the high street” She replied. 

“DS Charlie Nelson. Welcome to Midsomer, and I’ll be sure to come to your shop once it’s open” The man said, smiling. Neither said anything for a moment, just taking in each other’s presence. They were broken from this pleasant silence by DS Nelson’s superior calling him over. 

“You’re wanted” Anya said quietly, smiling at him. 

“DCI Barnaby. He’s lovely, really” DS Nelson replied, as he walked away from the young woman, and back to the grim reality of his job. Anya walked around the police cordon and smiled at DS Nelson as she made her way into her shop, nearly ready for opening. 

Anya sat on her front lawn the next morning, a saturday, enjoying the sunshine as she drank her tea. She waved at people as they walked past, said good morning to those who stopped for a chat, and cooed over babies pushed past in prams. She was pleasantly surprised when DS Nelson walked past with DCI Barnaby, a woman, and a baby. 

“DS Nelson!” She called, standing up and walking over to the front of her lawn. 

“Miss Cook, good morning” He replied, meeting her at the fence. 

“Anya, please. Who’s this?” Anya asked, cooing at the little girl in the pushchair. 

“DCI Barnaby, Mrs Barnaby, and little Betty Barnaby” Charlie introduced, opening the gate so Anya could greet the Barnabys.  
“Mrs Barnaby-”

“Oh, Sarah, please. How do you know Charlie?” Sarah asked, pressing a friendly kiss to Anya’s cheek. 

“We...we met yesterday. I saw him and DCI Barnaby chasing a suspect and bought them a couple of bottles of water. I thought they might need them” Anya tried to explain, flustered by Charlie’s gaze on her. 

“Anya is opening a book and coffee shop in the village soon” Charlie continued, smiling at the young woman in her silk dressing gown in front of him. 

“Opening is next saturday, you will come along, won’t you?” Anya asked, stroking Betty’s cheek lovingly. 

“I’ll certainly be there” Charlie replied, smiling at Anya. She smiled back and waved as the group walked off. 

“I’ll certainly be there?” Barnaby asked as they walked away. 

“What?” Charlie protested, looking at his boss suspiciously. 

“Has DS Nelson got a soft spot for somebody? Especially after seeing her in her pyjamas?” Barnaby teased as they continued down the road. All the while, Anya stood at her gate, hoping DS Nelson would turn around and smile at her. Luckily, he did. 

Later that afternoon, there was a knock on the door of Anya’s shop.

“We’re not open yet!” Anya shouted as she carried on painting the wall. 

“It’s Charlie Nelson!” came a shouted reply. The door opened slightly, and the policeman was slightly taken aback by the paint fumes. 

“I’m just getting the last of the painting done” Anya said as she carefully got down from her stepladder, wiping her hands on her overalls before she pushed her hair back out of her face, getting a tiny smudge of cream paint in her dark hair in the process. It took everything Charlie had not to get rid of it with his fingers. 

“I can see - need any help?” He asked. She smiled at him. 

“If you’re sure - I would kill for a cup of tea, and then somebody to paint the other wall wouldn’t go a miss” Anya replied, nodding her head towards a kettle and mugs on the floor. Charlie smiled and got on with making the tea.  
“Milk and sugar?” He asked, slipping the tiniest bit of sugar into his mug. 

“Milk, no sugar, please” She replied, taking the mug from him, sipping the hot drink gingerly. She thanked him with a wide smile, and gestured towards the pot of point opposite to the wall she was working on. He picked up the roller and began to paint, glancing over at Anya every now and then. She was also glancing over at him, under the presence of checking he was doing it right - but in fact she couldn’t take her eyes off him. The striped t-shirt he was wearing was riding up a bit, and the small bit of flesh was entrancing her. She had no idea why, but the sight of that small bit of Charlie’s back, normally unseen, was something wonderful to her. 

Every time Charlie looked at Anya, he was captured by her beauty. She had flecks of cream paint all over her, blending in to her pale skin at first, but soon standing out. The odd bit of paint had made it to her perfectly coiffed dark hair, and made it look like a perfect night sky. The large shirt she wore over shorts looked tailored to someone far larger than her. The shorts were obviously an old pair of jeans repurposed for decorating purposes. She was a vision of casual beauty, and Charlie was entranced. 

They spent the afternoon painting, with the occasional splatter thrown in the other’s direction. Multiple cups of tea were made and drunk by both, with the shop painted in record time. They chatted, Anya explaining that she’d just moved back to the UK from Hawaii, though she didn’t explain why she’d left the Island to come to Causton. Charlie didn’t push the issue, letting her tell him in her own time, if she’d tell him at all. He explained that he’d been transferred from London about 18 months back, and that he was enjoying country life much more than he was expecting, living with his colleague Kate. Neither mentioned a boyfriend or girlfriend, and neither asked. 

Throughout the week, Charlie and Anya ran into each other a few times. Once, with DCI Barnaby and Dr Kate Wilding, when Kate made a series of inappropriate comments regarding DS Nelson’s thoughts towards Miss Cook. 

Anya was somewhat surprised when Charlie turned up to the opening of her shop that next saturday. She was even more surprised that the Barnabys had showed up too, thinking that a Detective Chief Inspector must have better things to do with his saturday afternoons. 

“I said I’d come” Charlie said as he walked over to her, to be handed a cup of coffee and a book wrapped in brown paper. 

“You did. Coffee’s on the house and the book is a little gift, Charlie. I think you’ll like it” Anya replied, resting her hand on Charlie’s bare forearm for a moment. This gesture, and the blush it inspired in both of them, was not missed by John and Sarah Barnaby. They looked at each other, and formed a plan in a simple look. DS Charlie Nelson was smitten, and they wanted to do everything and anything they could to help. 

“Congratulations Anya, it’s a beautiful shop” Sarah said as she walked over to the young woman who had quickly become her friend. 

“Thank you Sarah, it’s been a tough week. I had some help, thankfully, but it’s been hard” Anya replied, looking over towards Charlie, who was charming baby Betty Barnaby. 

“Charlie helped?” the older woman asked, amazed that Charlie had been so bold. 

“He popped over last saturday to see if I needed a hand and I really really did so he helped me paint” the younger woman explained. Charlie smiled over at her, and she blushed profusely. Anya quickly excused herself to speak to the other people who’d turned up, causing Sarah to look at her husband with a grin that said she had a plan. 

Charlie was the last one left in the coffee shop that evening. He and Anya had settled into one of the sofas just as the last customers had been leaving. Charlie didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay there forever with Anya. He’d only known her a week, but he couldn’t ever remember being fonder of a human being. 

Luckily for him, although he didn’t know it, Anya felt exactly the same about him. She wanted to be in his company forever. 

Charlie decided if he was going to ask Anya about Hawaii and why he left, now was the moment to do it. 

“Anya, why did you leave Hawaii?” He asked nervously, arm slung lazily over the back of the sofa behind her. She looked at him, and smiled weakly.

“I was jilted at the altar. I moved to Hawaii because I thought he was the love of my life, but I was wrong” She said quietly. 

“He didn’t deserve you” Charlie replied, matching her volume. She looked at him, and nodded slightly. This was all it took for Charlie to kiss her. It was slow at first, Anya’s hand slowly carding through Charlie’s hair, his hand lazily slung over her shoulders, pulling her closer. Things gradually got more heated, before they remembered that they were technically in public. 

“Yours or mine?” Anya asked in between kisses. 

“Yours. Mine’s got Kate” Charlie replied, moving his lips down towards her jaw and neck. Anya nodded and stood up, leaving Charlie mid-kiss on the sofa. She grabbed their coats and Charlie’s book and threw them towards him. He caught them and smirked at her, quickly kissing her again before walking out the door, letting her lock it behind them. 

They stayed a fair distance apart as they walked back to Anya’s house, lest there be a sneaky DCI or Mrs Barnaby watching. They’d both cottoned on to the Barnabys plan to get them together. 

The minute they got through the door, they practically threw themselves at each other. Clothes were thrown everywhere, stumbling up the stairs whilst trying to undress without their lips parting. Anya’s bra ended up hanging from a light fitting, and Charlie’s shirt was caught on the handle of Anya’s bedroom door. All that could be heard from Anya’s room that night were moans, groans, screams, and shouts of pleasure from both Charlie and Anya. 

The next morning, Charlie snuck out of Anya’s house and made it back to his without being seen by anyone of interest. His hair was still ruffled by the time he got to the office, only a couple of minutes late. 

“Late night?” DCI Barnaby asked, a glint in his eye.

“Touch of insomnia, that’s all” Charlie replied, not meeting the gaze of his boss. DCI Barnaby just raised his eyebrows and carried on with his days. 

That evening found Charlie back at Anya’s, picking up where they left off that morning. He was hardly through the door before Anya was in his arms. 

“Hello” He said, pressing a quick succession of kisses to various parts of Anya’s face.

“Hello hot stuff. Cuppa?” She replied, jumping down and walking into the kitchen where the kettle was boiling. Charlie was surprised. He didn’t know why, after their impressive performance in her bedroom the night before, but he was surprised that Anya had called him hot. He thought she was hot, to be honest. 

“Love one” He replied, hanging his coat up on the bannister. He walked through to the kitchen, and found Anya sat on one of the worktops, cozily cupping a mug of tea. She looked pensive. 

“What’s up?” He asked, picking up his mug and moving to lean against the counter opposite her. 

“What are we, Charlie? Where are we heading?” She asked, sipping her tea, staring into the mug intensely. 

“I don’t know...All I know is I’ve never felt like this with anybody before and I never want it to end” Charlie replied, putting his tea down and moving to kiss Anya gently. She reciprocated, but broke it off. 

“I’ve never felt like this either, Charlie, and I don’t know what to do. I was meant to be getting married and I never felt like this with him”

“Then what you should do is love me, Anya, because in this short time I’ve fallen in love with you” He said, pressing a kiss to Anya’s forehead. 

“I’ve never been in love before, not really - I don’t know what it feels like” She replied, looking up at him. 

“Didn’t you love-” Charlie started. 

“Not even a quarter as much as I love you” She interrupted. Charlie quickly kissed her, their tea abandoned on the kitchen counter as he carried her up to bed, where they remained for the rest of the night. 

Charlie Nelson didn’t believe in soulmates. At least, he didn’t until he met Anya Cook. Then, well, everything was on the cards.


End file.
